A study in the British medical journey Lancet says that to alleviate problems caused when equipment designed for use by adults is used on young children and babies, an Italian group has produced a miniaturised dialysis machine which has been tested on a newly born baby with serious organ failure problems, After 30 days the child's kidney function was restored.
Dialysis on such young children is very challenging they say.
The Italian group set out to design a continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) suitable for such young babies under 15kg in weight - specifically in the 2kg to 10kg weight range. Peritoneal dialysis is the treatment of choice for such young tiny children but is not always feasible. Machines designed for adults can withdraw too much fluid from a young child, or even too little.
Dialysis on such young children is very challenging they say. In the UK about a dozen children like this are treated, and hopefully this new machine with much smaller catheters will improve matters in a challenging but not impossible medical problem. However like all new treatments, this will require further testing.
